Publications

First published in 1821, by its title alone, Castil-Blaze’s dictionary appears as a modernized version of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Dictionnaire de musique. Conceptually in line with the practice of musical lexicography opened by the philosopher of Geneva, in the Dictionnaire de musique moderne Castil-Blaze significantly reshapes the approach. While following Rousseau, the French musicologist, music critic, composer, and music editor came to propose his own definitions. Accordingly the Dictionnaire de musique moderne is characterized by two overarching trends: Castil-Blaze follows Rousseau in terms of entry structure and content (save for some 80 entries which he literally copies), but he updates and makes accessible the entries to a broader readership by focusing on issues that relate to the contemporaneous state of music and doing so with great clarity. This is recognized by a contemporary who has made lexicographic music history himself, François-Joseph Fétis, who asserted: “Containing nothing that is not known to educated musicians, the Dictionnaire de musique moderne contains developments that are a little too considerable for others: with this slight defect… the book of M. Castil-Blaze deserves praise for the clarity of the definitions and the rectitude of judgement which are distinguished in most of the artists”. The second edition, of 1825, contains corrections, such as in the entries on counterpoint and figure. A third, abridged, version exists, printed in 1828 in Brussels and edited by Joseph Henri Mees, who outfitted it with a catalogue of theorists, composers, and deceased musicians active in the Low Countries and a short instructional text on music pedagogy.